Stech’s Week In Rock (April 17th – 21st)

2004: At the Icons of the Twentieth Century Music auction at the Dallas Market Hall in Dallas, the piano Elton John wrote “Your Song” on sold for $164,500 and Kurt Cobain’s Mosrite Gospel Mark IV guitar sold for $117,500.

1982: Van Halen peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with their cover of Roy Orbison’s “(Oh) Pretty Woman”.

1960: Eddie Cochran, who had hits with “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody” died in a car accident in a taxi in London. He was 21 years old.

April 18th

1987: Foreigner singer Lou Gramm peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with his debut single as a solo artist, “Midnight Blue”.

1981: Yes announced that they were breaking up. Bassist Chris Squire & drummer Alan White began rehearsals with Jimmy Page for a project to be called XYZ which never materialized. Yes later reunited the following year.

1975: Alice Cooper’s first television special Welcome to my Nightmare: The Making of a Record Album aired on North American television.

1970: Norman Greenbaum peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “Spirit in the Sky” which was Greenbaum’s first and only top ten single in the U.S.

1970: Badfinger peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with “Come and Get It” which was their first top ten single in the U.S.

April 19th

2012: The Band drummer & singer Levon Helm died of throat cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was 71 years old.

2001: David Lee Roth confirmed internet rumors that he briefly reunited with Van Halen the previous July and wrote new songs with Eddie Van Halen and that he had not been in contact with the band since then. Roth later rejoined Van Halen in 2006.

1980: R.E.M. performed their first concert as R.E.M. at the 11:11 Koffee Club in Athens, GA to an audience of 150 people.

1978: The Patti Smith Group released “Because the Night” which later went on to peak at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, making it Smith’s biggest hit in the U.S. Smith co-wrote the song with Bruce Springsteen.

April 20th

1995: Eddie Van Halen pled no contest to an incident which took place thirteen days earlier where a semi-automatic pistol was seized from his carry-on luggage at Burbank Airport where he was detained. He was fined $300 & given probation for one year.

1993: Aerosmith released their eleventh studio album Get a Grip which went on to become their first number one album in the U.S. where it went on to sell seven million copies.

1992: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was held at London’s Wembley Stadium which featured performances from Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica & the surviving members of Queen with guests such as Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, Tony Iommi, Elton John, David Bowie & Ian Hunter.

1991: Steve Marriott, singer for The Small Faces and Humble Pie died in a fire caused by a cigarette at his home in Arksden, U.K. He was 44 years old.

1968: The Rolling Stones recorded “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” at Olympic Studios in London. The song went on to reach number one in the U.K. & number three in the U.S.

April 21st

1990: Van Halen performed at the opening night of its Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Sammy Hagar would buy out his band-mates due to its initial financial failure, which then went on to become a huge success.

1980: Pete Townshend released his first solo album Empty Glass which went on to reach number five on the Billboard 200 Album Chart & sell one million copies in the U.S.1978: Sandy Denny of the Fairport Convention & the only guest singer on a Led Zeppelin album when she co-sang on “Battle of Evermore” died of a cerebral hemorrhage after falling down stairs at a friends house. She was 31 years old.